Electrical switchgear/board equipment (sometimes just called switchgear or switchboard) house very large and heavy circuit breakers that protect loads that can consume thousands of amps of current. The procedure for making or breaking the electrical connections inside the electrical equipment between primary current carrying connectors in the circuit breaker and the corresponding connectors in the switchgear is referred to as racking. Racking such high-capacity circuit breakers is a procedure wrought with personal danger to the operator's safety. A possibility always exists that an explosion will occur due to a fault creating an arc flash, causing significant injury, including burns, or even death to the operator. Existing racking systems require the operator to insert a hand crank called a racking handle into a panel of a cradle or enclosure housing the circuit breaker to rack a circuit breaker into and out of the switchgear/board. This puts the operator right in front of the circuit breaker enclosure. Other existing racking systems use a wheeled platform that is positioned in front of the circuit breaker. A racking device is placed on the wheeled platform and mechanically couples with a control screw in the switchgear, which is cranked by the racking device.
A circuit breaker can be racked into or out of the switchgear among various positions, including a connected, test, and disconnected positions. When the circuit breaker is racked from one position to another (e.g., from a disconnected to a test position), a safety system in the switchgear typically prevents a further racking operation to be performed until the operator affirmatively signals an intention to perform the next racking operation (e.g., from the test position to a connected position). In some systems, the operator must press a stop/release button to perform the next racking operation. This button is accessible from the front panel of the switchgear, which places the operator in close proximity to the switchgear and within range of a harmful and potentially deadly arc flash explosion. Allowing the operator to perform various racking operations while maintaining a safe distance from the circuit breaker is desirable.